TBTN 2011

The wind was mighty as were spirits at the thirtieth annual Take Back the Night in Hamilton!

photo by Audra Petrulis

Women-identified folks started arriving at Hamilton City Hall in the early evening to check out the over twenty-five community organizations, to chat about the work that they do and to get some amazing free give aways.

photo by Audra Petrulis

TBTN participants popped by the SACHA table to pick up information about what they can do to end sexual violence and some free buttons and patches.

Photo by Audra Petrulis

photo by Karen Madden

Both the glitter covered sign making table and the henna tattoo artists were busy all evening.

After the crowd was sufficiently warmed up and had had a hearty laugh, Hamilton’s Queen Cee sang while her incredible BE-You-tiful Girls Club surprised us with a dance with the whole crowd joining in for the last verse.

Photo by Karen Madden

As the sun was setting, Anne Marie from the YWCA got women warmed up for the march by leading participants in some energetic Zumba.

Mohawk College won the award for most women from an organization with huge shoutouts to the YWCA and WomanKind who both put lots of energy and spirit into TBTN this year.

photo by Karen Madden

The best sign shoutouts went to the Hamilton Katimavik group and Sylvia. The winner of the best sign was Amelia, who’s sign read:

“I Take Back the Night…

…Because I cannot take back the day on which I was raped;

…Because I cannot take back the time spent in court;

…Because I cannot take back the energy devoted to supporting myself (when my friends turned their backs);

I Take Back the Night because I cannot take back all the love I shared in 14 months in an abusive relationship!”

photo by SACHA

photo by Audra Petrulis

photo by Audra Petrulis

Once the giant puppets (created by Melanie Skene of Many Hands Art) and the samba squad (Rhythms of Resistance Toronto) were ready over one thousand five hundred women (as guessed by Hamilton Police) gathered behind the SACHA banner and headed out to the streets for the march.

photo by Karen Madden

photo by Karen Madden

photo by Karen Madden

photo by Audra Petrulis

photo by Karen Madden

As the march rounded the corner of James and King, the women marching saw the male allies on the sidelines cheering on the TBTN participants.

photo by Audra Petrulis

The marchers returned to City Hall to share some incredible food and watch some awesome fire spinning.

photo by Karen Madden

photo by Karen Madden

It was an amazing night full of strong empowered women identified folks. It felt special to be a part of it. Thanks to everyone who helped make the event happen – the TBTN committee, TBTN event volunteers, SACHA’s sewing volunteers, SACHA staff and our donors. I cannot wait for our thirty-first year of TBTN in Hamilton!

As two midwifery students coming into SACHA for placement, we were thrilled to take part in the Take Back the Night preparations; part of that included going to CHCH 11 to watch Lenore the director at SACHA speak on “Square Off” to inform the community about this historic night.

We were expecting Lenore to inform the community about what Take Back the Night is all about, but instead, she was left defending women’s right to create a women-identified only space. From our perspective, Lenore was unfairly cornered by two news anchors and a columnist from Ottawa. The part that really surprised me was that as media, you would expect CHCH 11 to have a responsibility to bring up why this event exists, what it was for and to help promote this cause to the community – allowing more people to be aware and get involved.Continue reading

Where can I buy one?
T-shirts will be available at TBTN near the SACHA table.

How much do they cost?
As in other years, we are selling the shirts are on a sliding scale from $15 to $20. You make the choice about how much to give to SACHA depending on what you think you can afford. To make each t-shirt costs us between $11 and $17 – depending on the size and style of the shirt.

We are hoping that some folks who can afford it will pay on the higher end of the scale to help subsidize the folks that are paying on the lower end of the scale.

What about free stuff?
We totally recognize that not everyone will be able to afford $15 for a t-shirt. At the SACHA table we have TBTN buttons and patches for free.

How can I pay?
Unfortunately, we don’t have a fancy debit/credit machine, so if you are interested in buying a shirt please remember to bring some cash…

Thanks to Hilltop Printing for helping us out with the cost of t-shirts this year!